Already Virtually Together
by Hannibal-Necromancer97
Summary: Post-Halo 4, AU. After the Didact is defeated, the UNSC decides to celebrate. Master Chief decides to Join, but has too much on his mind, plus Cortana, to enjoy the party. What could Chief be thinking about? And does Cortana think the same thing? -[slight spoilers within]- (Minor suggestive themes and alcohol referenced.)
1. If You Say So

The shuttle bay was decorated colorfully with streamers and confetti. The fight was over, the Didact defeated, and everyone in the UNSC was celebrating… Well, _almost_ everyone; Master Chief, the person who most deserved the break, was not in a party mood. He hadn't even removed his MJOLNIR armor for the occasion. _John?_

He looked up, though he knew full well no one would be there to meet his gaze. Only two people he knew called him by his first name, and the corporeal one wasn't in front of him; "Cortana?"

_Is something on your mind? You seem distracted._

"I'm fine."

_Really, Chief?_ She appeared on his HUD. "This party's technically in your honor and you're over here, sulking in the corner."

"I'm okay. Really."

"If you say so…" Cortana knew there was more, but Chief wouldn't budge. _In the meantime…_ she thought, before addressing her coworker again, "Say, Chief."

"Yes?"

"Could you plug me into that console over there? I'm going to run a quick ship diagnostic." Chief complied silently, as was his custom. Other than his brief quarrel with Captain Del Rio, he hasn't said much more than two or three words out loud.

/

After entering the podium, Cortana buzzed herself over to Halsey's lab. "Hey, Dr. Halsey?"

"Yes, Cortana?" the technician acknowledged, not looking up from her computer.

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

Halsey paused, swiveling to face the construct. "On what matter?"

"Well, it's about me."

"Alright."

"I just wanted to know," Cortana twiddled her thumbs as she spoke. "Can an artificial intelligence have feelings?"

Halsey thought. An AI was a synthetic being able to achieve sentience. Machines are usually attributed with having no emotion, though any child could tell you that something able to show emotions had them. But Cortana had said "feelings," not emotions. Feelings were the subjective representation of emotions, private to the individual, so if she had emotions, she had to have feelings to represent them. She finally responded, "Why the sudden interest?"

"It's kind of personal. You understand?"

"Wholly. And to answer your question: yes, AIs have feelings and are able to express them."

Cortana nearly lit up, but kept her excitement to herself; she definitely had feelings. "Thank you, Dr. Halsey. Um…" she shuffled her feet, "There's one more thing. About John."

"What is it?"

/

At the party, Chief remained in the back of the room, glancing around for possible ambush points. He'd just counted six when an Elite approached him, shoving its way through the party. John reached for his magnum, and the trooper raised its hands. "Spartan!" he said, "It's me!"

Master Chief relaxed a bit, remembering his old ally with a nod. "Arbiter."

"For a moment, I thought you were going to shoot, considering what my former allies had put you through."

"I almost did."

The Sangheili hero took a seat next to the Chief, sighing in exasperation. "I do not understand the purpose of this gathering. The epicenter is pockmarked by ambush points; on the way in, alone, I found three possible entrances for Special Forces soldiers."

"Back here, you can see three more." John crossed his arms, "Hey, Arbiter."

"Yes, Spartan?"

"Can I ask you something, off the record?"

"I see no reason why not. What is your question?"

"Be honest. Do you think… Do you think I express myself enough?"

"Hm… The question is subjective, at best. I don't tend to do this 'socialize' with fellow soldiers. However, any other person in this room would give a straight answer: 'no,' is a likely candidate."

A marine, Corporal Wilkinson, walked up to the pair. She was obviously drunk, fueling the state with a plastic cup of whiskey in her off hand. "Hey, you two," she hiccupped, "what're you guys doin' back here?"

"Just talking, soldier to soldier," Chief responded. He looked at the Arbiter, who gestured to their new guest. He returned to the soldier. "Say, Wilkinson."

She shushed him lazily, "We're partying. Call me Jenna." She laughed and took a sip of her drink.

"Jenna." Chief rubbed the back of his neck. "Me and the Arbiter, here, were debating something we thought you could help put to rest?"

"The Spartan wishes to know if you believe he expresses his feelings often enough." Chief shot Arbiter a cold look. "You were taking too long."

"Yes. That."

"Oh… Hm…" Jenna scratched her head in thought. "Well, to tell the truth, I'd make myself a bit more interesting, if I was you. But hey, I'm jus' a human. I don't understand robots an' all."

"There," Arbiter said, nodding to the Chief, "I hope that answers your question sufficiently, Spartan."

"It does." Chief turned back to the Corporal. "Thank you for the input."

"Welcome. An' hey," she snuggled up to the 7-foot-plus super soldier, "I won't think of you any different if you try to egspress yourself."

"Thanks. I think."

As Jenna charged back into the party, whiskey in hand, whooping uttering forth, Cortana reappeared on the podium. "What'd I miss?"

"The Arbiter and I were just having a discussion."

"What about?"

"It's… personal." He popped the pneumatic seal on his helmet, turning the entire room's population's heads as he removed the headgear, placing it on the table. He could have sworn he heard someone in the crowd shout: "I knew he wasn't a robot!"

He leaned in, resting his arm on the snack bar, which seemed to grant him a three-foot radius of elbow room. "Cortana," he whispered, hiding his mouth from view of the drunken partygoers with his free hand.

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind meeting me later, in private?"

"Um.." Cortana stuttered, wringing her hands together nervously, "Ehm, y-yeah, sure. I mean, um- y-yes." She disappeared, leaving Master Chief blinking in confusion.

He looked at the mob of people behind him. "You all… As you were." Few followed that order, their mouths still gaping at the sight of the Master Chief's face. "Now!" They all jumped, returning to the party. Certainly, a few conversations had a new topic to discuss. He turned back to the Arbiter, "There's, uh, one more thing I wanted to ask you. It's… about Cortana."

"The Construct? Hm… I will answer as best I can."

/

Cortana reappeared before Dr. Halsey, beaming. "Well, you certainly look happy about something," the doctor said. "Things must have gone awfully right with John."

"He wants to see me in private." She sat cross-legged on her projector, smiling madly.

"Where?"

"…Huh… I was so nervous; I guess I forgot to ask."

"You really think so?" Chief said, as surprised as his militant mind would allow.

"Undoubtedly. You two spend too much time together for no affection to up rise. As for 'will it work out,' I have no idea. Organic life falling in love with a computer program? I personally would not set any further goal than her reciprocating the emotion; but you humans may see it differently.

"Now, could you help me with an issue that has recently revealed itself?"

"Shoot."

"I plan not to fire, thank you. I simply wish to know why the Corporal Wilkinson keeps looking at me. It is unnerving and uncomfortable."

The two glanced over in Jenna's direction, watching her bong down a keg of beer as two other soldiers held her legs up.

Chief turned back to Arbiter. "I could talk to her for you, if you want; see what's up."

"Please do."

As Chief was about to go, Cortana reappeared on the terminal. "Um, Chief?"

"Yes?" He replied.

"Where exactly did you want to talk to me?"

"Hm… How about we meet in my quarters; ten minutes okay?"

She nodded. "Sure. See you then." She vanished a third time, allowing John to handle the Arbiter's problem.

He walked over to the beer keg, where Corporal Wilkinson was just being let down after emptying the barrel. "Jenna?"

"Yessir, Chief?" she replied, swaying from her blood-alcohol level being so high.

"The Arbiter, over there where I was standing, is a bit insecure about you constantly looking at him."

"The Elite? Well, why didn't 'e come over here hisself and tell me? I'm a big girl…" she looked at the slowly growing wet spot on her trousers, "…who probably still needs diapers."

"Look, he just wants you to quit staring. Can you do that?"

"If it'll get Arby to quit whinin' about it, I'll try."

"Good." He paused, his curiosity getting the better of him, "Why were you staring, anyway?"

"Well," she slurred, "I'm jus' tryin' t' see what he's got, is all."

"'What he's got?'"

"Y'know, what he's packin', what he's got downstairs. An' I'll let ya in on a little secret." She leaned in, lowering her voice, and almost using the Chief to stay on her feet, "I went commando, 'cause I knew I wouldn't need panties for too long here, anyway, if ya catch my drift."

This made the Spartan nearly blush, as he returned to the Sangheili veteran. "So, I found the reason she was looking at you intently."

"And?"

"She… Well, firstly, she promised to stop staring."

"Why was she staring in the first place, Spartan?"

"I… can't really explain. Look, just go talk to her, sort this out; I need to be somewhere." He started on his way, the Arbiter rising behind him. "Good luck with Wilkinson."

"And luck to you with the Construct, Spartan." Chief nodded, and left for his quarters. If he hurried, he could make it there before Cortana. Then again, she could just buzz across the ship in the blink of an eye. Oh well, _c'est__' la vie._


	2. In Private

Chief walked through the bowels of the facility, reviewing what the Arbiter had said to him:

_'Do you think she… likes me?'_

_ 'Hm… I would be surprised if she did not.'_

_ 'No, I mean _likes_ me."_

_ 'As do I, Spartan."_

_ 'You really think so?'_

_ 'Undoubtedly. You two spend too much time together for no affection to up rise. As for 'will it work out,' I have no idea. Organic life falling in love with a computer program? I personally would not set any further goal than her reciprocating the emotion; but you humans may see it differently.'_

It was that last statement that struck him: not to set any goal beyond her liking him back. The Arbiter was never one to beat around the bush, so his meaning was pretty straightforward. Chief thought long and hard about this, hoping that he could find a logical way to keep pushing this forward. But first, he'd need her to reciprocate.

/

Cortana set some of herself aside to run a diagnostic, mentally thanking Dr. Halsey's efforts at helping her control her rampancy, all the while thinking of the professor's answer to her:

_'Do you think… John likes me, Dr. Halsey?'_

_ '…Well, I can imagine a sort of kinship forming between you two.'_

_ 'No, Doc. I mean, does he _like_ me?'_

_ 'Hm… I can't ignore that you've obtained feelings for him, Cortana, and I respect it; but if he did, that would be about as far as it would go. As for whether he actually _does_ harbor strong emotions for you, that's beyond my knowing. You'd have to ask him yourself, and get more than four words out of him, to get your answer.'_

_ 'Well, I left him at the party to come talk to you; I could go back and ask him.'_

_ 'That's the spirit! Now go. And hope that he answers in your favor!'_

She frowned. She hadn't gotten a straight answer out of Halsey, and Chief was meeting her later to talk about something. Given his military mind, it would probably be briefing on their next mission.

But, then, why would he need her in private for that? Unless it was a covert op, he had nothing to hide about. Maybe he liked her, and couldn't let the others think he was a big softy. And maybe he was going to express those same feelings back to her, giving more to why he needed her in private.

The optimistic half of her mind kept rattling these happy thoughts off until she looked at the time: 2149 hours, only two minutes until she was due to meet the Chief in his quarters. She would've drooled if she were corporeal; oh, the things she'd dreamt of doing in that room… She snapped her mind back into focus.

_Get real,_ she thought, _there's no chance in hell any of that is going to happen._

She buzzed herself over to Chief's quarters, just as he entered the room. "Thanks for meeting me, Cortana," he said.

"Any time, John," she replied. _When will he say it?_

_Will she ask? I don't want to sound like an idiot._ "So, there's something I've been meaning to ask you for some time…"

_Is this it?_ "You know that you can ask me anything."

"I understand that, but this is… a little more personal." _Will she say yes? I don't know what I'd do if not._

"Go right ahead, Chief." _Am I going to have to say it?_

_What if she says it first? If I say "yes," it might get awkward between us, but I don't want to hurt her by saying "no." Besides, I can't lie to her…_ "You and I have worked together a long time," he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck, "and I've recently been thinking."

_Is this it?_ "What about, Chief?"

"You know how you asked me to figure out which of us is the machine?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I think I've nearly got it figured out. And it all hangs on what I'm about to ask you."

_Here it comes…_

_ I can't believe I'm about to do this._ "Cortana," he started, "I want you to be honest with me. Do you… like me?"

"More and more each day."

"No, I mean… unprofessionally. Are you interested… in me?"

_He actually asked. I guess it's not him, then._ "…Yes, John. More than you'd imagine."

_She said yes. I guess it's not her._ He smiled, something he wasn't accustomed to doing. "I'm glad for that."

"Now, about the machine."

He hushed her, "It definitely isn't you."

She smiled, "It's not you, either."

He held out his hand, playing the gentleman, "Come on. There's a party waiting for us."

"Actually," she sat on her terminal, "you just want to stay here?"

"What would we do?"

She shrugged, "We can just talk. I mean, we just found out we like each other, that's pretty interesting."

Chief thought for a moment before seating himself on his cot. "Alright," he said, "we'll stay and talk. No one's going to miss us."

"Yeah, it's not like we were being very sociable…"

"…Standing in the back corner…"

"…Counting hiding spots," Cortana joked.

"Infiltration points, actually." He smiled again, "Though I see where you're coming from."

"Yeah, come on, Chief. Who's going to try and crash a UNSC celebration?" She giggled, causing Chief's heart to set ablaze. She had a nice laugh.

"It's not like they're all untrained. They can handle one or two Drones, right?"

"Drones, Jackals, Grunts, basically anything that isn't a Brute or a Hunter, and they'll be alright."

"Or Elites. Don't forget, there were splintered Sangheili out on Requiem."

"Oh, right." She decided to change the subject, "Say, Chief?"

"Yeah?"

"How is this going to work? Us, I mean."

"Don't worry," he replied, "we'll find a way."

"Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep, John."

"I'm not," he grinned. "There's always a way."

She chuckled, "You're lucky I like crazy, Chief." She checked the time: 2160 hours. "The party should still be going on if you really still want to go back."

"You know what?" He leaned in close, placing a hand on the console Cortana sat on, "Right now, I just want to be here, with you."

_Oh, if only I had a body…_


	3. Creation

As Chief slept, Cortana was just getting the results from the diagnostic: Apart from small entities clogging the vents, everything was fine. She started up a purge to clean them out, and began to think. _Chief likes me, so why am I not happy? I should be elated that he feels the same way I do, so why?_ She looked at herself; at least what was generated from the projector under her feet. _Maybe there's something I still need?_ She activated a computer in the corner and opened the internet. _If that's the case, I just need to find out what…_

She searched every functioning site for research on relationships, but none turned up anything useful. _Maybe I need to be more specific?_ She revised her search, this time emphasizing humans and artificial life in relationships with one another, but quickly thought better of it when she found some inappropriate web links. _Nope._

_Think, Cortana! What should happen?_ She opened a simulation program, punching in what she imagined the ideal relationship to be.

A CG couple appeared onscreen, neither having very distinct features. The sim-man had a blue shirt and khakis, while the sim-woman wore a red sundress. They seemed very happy together, the program placing them first in a fancy restaurant, chatting in an incomprehensible language. The man took the woman's hand and the simulation changed the scene rapidly to a picnic, where they sat and ate sandwiches under a generic tree. They stood, and began dancing the night away as the vista switched to a club. The man pulled the woman in, and they nearly kissed before the entire screen became dominated by a door with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the knob.

Cortana reviewed this recreation over and over, trying to figure out the common factor each scenario had in common. _Food? No, dancing doesn't require any kind of nourishment. Plus, I don't eat… Talking? Maybe, but we talk almost too much, so that's not an issue…_ She looked at her hands, suddenly no longer a fan of their transparency. _Touch, then…_ She looked over the imitation couple's antics one more time: during dinner, the man had taken the woman's hand; the picnic, they were cuddling; in the club, they seemed to dance to swing music; and the bedroom…

_That must be it,_ she thought. _Everything points there… Question is, though: how will we get that?_

Chief woke momentarily, just for long enough to see Cortana watching what appeared to be a short cartoon. A man and a woman were being placed in various scenarios; dinner, a picnic date, dancing, and it all ended with a door conquering the screen. "That's it," he heard her say, just before she buzzed away.

_What was that about?_ He thought, slowly lulling back to sleep. _I'll ask in the morning…_

Cortana appeared in Halsey's lab, searching the doctor's archives. She remembered that Halsey had been working on a special machine that would allow her legacy to live on long after she was dead. She began searching file after file, narrowing her investigation keyword by keyword.

Inventions. Upgrades. Improvements. Breakthrough. More and more files disappeared, replaced by more relevant ones, also to vanish and be substituted.

Extension. Life. Creation. More files exited, only to be swapped with others.

Hollow. Artificial. The files stopped replicating.

Cloning…

At last, only a single program remained. A private file labeled "Stein's Child," possibly as a reference to Dr. Frankenstein's famous creation. She opened the encrypted dossier with little resistance, and the contents presented themselves to Cortana as a gentleman presents flowers to his lady. _Time to go to work…_

Chief had a hard time getting back to sleep, so he used his newfound time to take the armor plating off of his power suit. Now adorned solely in his black under armor, he decided to watch the short cartoon Cortana had been watching so intently before. After he pressed play, a CG couple had dinner, went to the park, danced, and disappeared behind the "Do Not Disturb" door.

Needless to say, he had no idea what he'd just witnessed.

He was about to play it again, but he was stopped by a sound coming from the vents. It was almost a- nay, it _was_ a crash. He grabbed his magnum from the desk and made a break for the source of the sound. _Okay, _he thought, _it was too echoed to be from close by, but much farther than twenty meters in a confined space and it becomes inaudible; so it was either really loud, or…_ Nearly kicking the door in, Master Chief made a mad dash back to the party.

Dr. Halsey must've been coming up on testing this blueprint, because Cortana found plenty of DNA samples lined up in jars and test tubes on the desk, and had the actual unit already put together. All that was left was to test it and essentially, if it worked, create life.

She commanded a pincer to carry a tube containing Halsey's hair to the contraption, and another to do the same with a Petri dish of skin cells. The mechanism complied, sliding the test samples into the appropriate port. After some whirring and humming, the machine began to work.

A metal frame occupying a nearby workbench slid automatically into the module. It was then stuffed with specially designed circuits, making up a sort of machinated nervous system. It was then fitted carefully with internal organ systems (Cortana wished not to know where Halsey obtained the body parts.) Next, a particularly difficult feat for any human, the structure was given muscle; this was accomplished by synthesizing meat and tendons from that of a dead animal, then grafting them on using delicate soldering.

Finally, with the subject beginning to take shape, Cortana made a slight adjustment before letting the instrument flesh out the husk; rapidly-duplicating skin cells began coating the corpse, before the top of the head was coated in hair. As a personal touch, the construct modified the hair sample ever so slightly, so the shell would retain Cortana's unnaturally blue hair.

There was only one thing left to do.

Cortana wrote up an automatic program to transfer her data chip to Stein's Child.


	4. Stein's Child

The body received a few volts of energy, lurching from the experience. As soon as the heart monitor began to beep steadily, she opened her eyes. It felt uncomfortable, being confined to a single point at a time rather than everywhere when available. She sent an electrical signal to the "nerves" in her arm and looked at her hand; it was pale, possibly from the lack of blood up until recently. She should have put it on an IV, but she was too impatient, so she simply filled the body's blood vessels with an appropriate amount all at once and jumpstarted the heart.

_That was too hasty, _Cortana scolded herself. _Grow a bit of patience, and run a system check._ She did so… or tried, anyway. Fact of the matter was: she had very little idea what a human body could do, though she'd lived in John's head almost 24/7 until now.

_ Okay, signals to nerves, that causes motion…_ She touched her new fingers to her thumb on either hand, then began to wiggle her toes. _Basic tendons seem to work. What about joints?_ She rotated her wrists and ankles, followed by bending the elbows and knees, and finally rolled her hips and shoulders. _Check._ She turned her head upon its axis, unstiffening the wire-metal that made up her neck. She then proceeded to open her mouth, pulling to its full extent and crossing it to each side. _Those work. Now, let's see about sitting up…_

She had slight difficulty in this, arms awkwardly needing separate signals to move independently. She nearly had it figured out, but ended up smacking her head on the roof of the capsule. "Ow… wait…" She spoke some more, testing the voice box as she should have. "Railroad crossing, watch for cars. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" She found minor enjoyment of her now organic voice vibrating slightly against the walls of the unit. "Echo, echo!"

"Glad to see you're having fun," said someone from out of the construction.

Cortana jumped, winging her head on the top again. "Ow…" She cradled her head, but began to forget the pain briefly at the feel of her hair. _Huh, so that's what it feels like._

"I'm going to guess that's you, Cortana?"

"Uh…" She hesitated, "Y-yeah… It's me, Dr. Halsey."

The scientist looked in, but immediately turned away, seeing as the machine did not make clothes for the otherwise limp life form. "Did you plan on climbing out of there? Or, possibly, asking to use the machine?"

"Um…"

"That was a joke, Cortana." Halsey snickered. "Fact is: I was prepping to use it, myself. I was just missing something."

"What?"

"Why, you of course."

/

Chief's suspicion was confirmed: he rushed into the party, where Drones had begun ransacking the place. He fired two shots, dropping one of the six intruders. The Arbiter was already firing his sidearm at the insects with haste and precision. "Arbiter!"

"Where did these intruders come from, Spartan?"

"I don't know. They shouldn't have been able to find us; we're too far from any Covenant ship for radars to pick up. Unless…"

"Either they were cloaked, or there is a defector in the station," the Arbiter completed, dropping his spent plasma pistol in favor of a Needle Rifle. "Get your soldiers to safety, Master Chief. I will clear the infestation."

Chief nodded, turning to the terrified partygoers. "Everyone, evacuate the bay! Anyone sober enough to shoot, grab a gun and shoot anything that flies." Several ODSTs grabbed their Designated Marksman Rifles from their backs, only for half of them to get fried by a swooping Drone's overcharged shot. Corporal Wilkinson reached woozily for her pistol, but Chief stopped her. "You're intoxicated, Corporal."

"But I's able to shoot," she replied, her breath smelling of alcohol. But she was right; somehow, she was able to reach around Chief and shoot one Bugger in the chest and wings. "Lemme do my job," she hiccupped, "an' I'll let you do yours. Aright?"

"Uh… Sure, Corporal. Just be sure not to hit anything human or Arbiter."

"Can do, Chief."

/

Cortana sat her new body back on the table, now wearing a medical gown. She had just gotten used to the controls and was currently holding an apple at about eye-level. "So, you built this 'Stein's Child' thing… for me?"

"That's right," the doctor said proudly. "I wasn't sure you'd want it, so I left it out just in case." She pointed to the fruit. "Hold the apple in your left hand now."

Cortana complied, moving the apple to her offhand. "What all can I do with this body?"

"Pretty much anything a human could do, save for breaking your bones. You can eat, sleep, bathe, you name it." She took out a small flashlight, and held it up to Cortana before turning it on. "Follow the light with your eyes, without moving your head this time."

"Those examples sound like things humans need to do anyway," she said, looking back and forth at the tiny light.

"They are, but there are other things you can do that humans may rarely, or sometimes never, do." She put the light away, and walked five steps back. "Now, walk toward me."

Cortana slid off the table, her new legs still bizarre to her. How humans did this on a regular basis was beyond her. She took a wobbly step, nearly falling over in the process. The second step and so-on began to ease up. "I'm walking."

"Yes, you are." The doctor took one more step back, making the new human need to walk farther.

"Hey! No fair!"

"You need the practice, Cortana. Come on, it's only another meter." She took another step back, then another, and another, as Cortana's stride became more confident. "You can do it; just a few more steps!"

Cortana began to get the motions down, her gait getting more prominent.

"Don't slouch. Ladies don't slouch!"

"I'm not a lady, Halsey, I'm an AI in a cyborg body."

"Well, you should act like a lady, at least."

/

The Drones dropped like flies, so to speak, as Chief and the Arbiter pinned them again and again in the head, but for every one they dropped, two more flew out of the ducts in their stead. "McCoy," Chief shouted, "hit the alarm!"

"It's fried, sir! Can't get word to the rest of the base!"

_Why would they concentrate on the party? No one here is important enough for a full infiltration._ "Keep firing! There can't be many left!"

"The Drones are able to squeeze a hundred of their kind in a room the size of this!" The Arbiter proclaimed, "The air ducts are substantially smaller!"

"Kill 'em with fire!" Jenna shouted, spraying an aerosol can at one of the candles from the party cake. The bugs retreated as the Corporal's makeshift flamethrower stunted their numbers faster than they climbed.

Pretty soon, there were none left, and everyone was left staring at the chaos left behind. Chief moved to the podium, where he'd left Cortana prior to leaving the party. "Cortana." Nothing. "…Cortana?" Silence. "Cortana, come in."

/

Cortana stumbled into Halsey, her legs deciding to kick violently backwards. "S-sorry, Halsey. I'm still not comfortable walking, yet."

"That's alright; you'll never get it without practice." The doctor smiled, and looked nostalgically at the semi-cyber human. "You look just like I did, when I was young." She held up a lock of Cortana's azure hair, "Albeit with a few exceptions."

"It was my own touch. Can't go around with people thinking I'm you, you know."

"No, I guess not. Although, can you imagine what people would think of a twenty-year-old me walking around?"

Cortana chuckled, "They may assume that you found the fountain of youth!"

"If only I had!" They shared a laugh. "Ah, if only I'd built you in my thirties."

"Then we'd be sitting around, six years later, wondering what happens when an AI deteriorates."

"True…"

Cortana realized something just then: for the first time ever, she was hungry. She didn't know what it meant at first, having never felt the urge to eat before now, but she began feeling weak, and her stomach growled at her. "Is there anything to eat?"

It was about that time John burst into the room. "Halsey!"

/

"John? What's wrong?"

"Cortana's miss-!" He stopped, just noticing the blue-haired girl the scientist stood next to. "-ing? Uh, Halsey?"

"Yes?"

The titan of a man pointed at Stein's Child. "Who is this?"

"You don't recognize me, John?" The woman said, walking up to him.

Chief's brain began to round off ideas, narrowing down who she could be. The last thought was triggered by the combination of the girl's hair and voice. "…Cortana?"

"In the flesh," she joked. "Now, anyways."

He turned to Halsey again. "How?"

"It's a body built custom for Cortana. It's a wireframe skeleton wrapped in organs, muscles, and skin. In a sense, you could say she's my daughter." She looked at Cortana, "If that's what you want?"

Cortana took stock of her new self, "Technically, it _is_ your blood running through me …Dr. Halsey."

"Yes, Cortana?"

The semi-human embraced Halsey; an involuntary motion caused by her own happiness. She nodded into the professor's shoulder, her eyes welling with her first tears ever.

Chief stood idly by, assessing what was happening: Cortana wasn't able to respond to him after the battle, because she was busy testing a new body created by Halsey. He looked at Cortana, willing himself not to look at her bare bottom. She looked about as human as any person on this boat, save for the Arbiter, and himself, the latter being seven-foot-two. She didn't look too different, either, her new corporeality mimicking the form of Dr. Halsey, though noticeably younger with blue hair.

In a way, strange as it was, he was now as attracted to Cortana's body as he was to her very essence. He walked up to the two of them, addressing the one with sapphire hair in particular. "Uh… Cortana?"

"Yeah, Chief?" she replied, releasing her and Halsey's hug.

He sheepishly held his arms out, allowing the brand new human to tangle him in a hug. He was careful to keep it firm, but with enough slack to prevent crushing her. She was soft, and unfortunately smelled like a new car. Silencing dry-heaves, he looked down at her, her eyes meeting his. "I'm going to miss you up here," he said, tapping his temple.

"Don't worry, John." She placed her palm roughly on the center of her chest. "You'll have me right here." She paused, curiously groping the sacs on her upper torso, "These are soft… Chief, have you felt these?"

_And just like that,_ Chief thought, _the magic is gone._ "Eh… err… I, uh…"

Halsey laughed. "Cortana, if you don't mind, I need to teach you a few things before I let you go, evidently."

"Alright, Mom." She gave Chief another squeeze. "Shouldn't take long, okay?"

"Alright." He turned to the doctor. "Take care of her, Halsey."

"That's all I intend to do, John."


	5. Three Words

Chief waited patiently outside Halsey's lab, still getting used to the fact that he could actually _hold_ Cortana now. She'd always been at the back of his mind, quite literally, back on the Pillar of Autumn, but somehow had climbed up to be his main concern. It may have been that he was ordered to protect her by Captain Keyes, or it may have been feelings of his own developing over time.

While he sorted this out, he tried to solve an old Rubix cube someone had left on the table next to him. From their creation, all the way up to the present, only a few were able to solve it. Chief was, unfortunately, not one of these people. As he fumbled with the tiny toy, Cortana stepped out of the lab, reviewing with the doctor everything they'd talked about. "…And it's going to do that how often?!" Cortana asked incredulously, looking wide-eyed down at her new pants.

"About every four weeks," Halsey replied. "So keep that in mind. And remember: the skeleton is metal, not the body; so don't act like you're something you're not."

"A hero?"

"Bulletproof." She handed Cortana a bag of spare clothes, "Take care, Cortana."

"I will."

Halsey shut the door, and Stein's Child turned to face Spartan-117. "So, what did you learn?" Chief asked.

"Well, apparently, I'm not supposed to grab these under normal circumstances," Cortana replied, gesturing to her assets. "Also: If I feel empty and weak, I need food; if I'm full and feel like something's trying to come out, I need a restroom; and something about recycling cells every four weeks?" She was interrupted by another growl from her abdomen. "Speaking of food…"

"Do you want to get something to eat?" The soldier offered her his arm.

"Please." She accepted, looping her own limb through the crook of his elbow, allowing him to lead her to the mess. Having until recently just buzzed herself from room to room, Cortana had no idea how to navigate the halls.

They headed that way, silently walking for about three minutes before the pseudo-human spoke up. "Say, Chief," she started.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Be honest with me: do you prefer me as I am now? Or as I was before?"

Chief held his tongue. He knew that if he said "now," she'd lash out at him for only liking her for her body; but if he said "before," she'd feel like he no longer liked her because she'd changed. It was almost as if she'd asked if her new outfit made her look fat (which, actually, it hugged her curves really well.) He couldn't help but think she'd intended this, but she didn't seem to realize. He stopped walking, and turned to face her. "Cortana," he said, as sincere as possible, "I can't say either of these, but I _will_ say this: I like you for _who_ you are, not _what._ I admit, the new body is a significant change, but it's your mind I fell in love with."

She took his hand, happy tears beginning to run down her cheeks. Chief wiped the streams of joy away, bringing her in for a hug. "That's just what I wanted to hear," she said. Sniffling, she looked up at the giant individual she called John, "Let's go. We're going to miss lunch at this rate."

When they finally arrived at the mess, every off-duty marine was munching on either spaghetti, tuna salad, or various grilled meats, while those that were on duty had to settle for bagged lunches. Chief and Cortana each grabbed a plate of meat, greens, and a slice of bread apiece. They sat down, but didn't eat; Cortana because she didn't quite know how, and Chief because he felt uncomfortable with Cortana watching him so intently. "Okay," he finally said, "why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm learning," Cortana replied.

"Halsey never taught you to eat?"

The thrall shook her head. "Somehow, she couldn't fit it into what I needed to know. Ironic, seeing as it's kind of important to be able to feed oneself."

"…I could teach you."

"Please."

"First, you take a utensil: spoon, fork, one of those," he said, holding up a fork for the lesson. "With it, you pick up the food on your plate." He demonstrated by picking some green beans from Cortana's plate. "Then, you just lift it to your mouth, like so." He raised the fork to Cortana's mouth. "You put it in, and chew," he finished, feeding the veggies to the synthetic person, miming the chewing motion, which earned him a laugh. Chief was unaccustomed to making a fool of himself, but it was worth it to him to hear her laugh like only she could. Glancing around, he could see a table full of soldiers staring in disbelief at the oh-so-intimidating Master Chief being funny. He turned back to Cortana, "Can you handle all of that?" he joked.

She chuckled, "I don't know, you may have to run it by me again…"

After they were done eating, the duo took a walk through the frigate, talking about some things Halsey forgot to mention to Cortana. The cyborg changed the subject of their debate to something she felt she'd better know if they were going to have a healthy human/synthetic-being relationship, "Say, Chief."

"Hm?"

"I was wondering. Do you think…" she turned to the Spartan, "…that you could teach me to… kiss?"

Chief paused, taking in what she'd just asked. Mathematically, he towered over her, seven-foot-two to about five-nine, so he'd have to bend down at least a foot and a half in order for it to happen. But, on an emotional level, he really wanted this. _Who cares if we do?_ He thought, _we love each other enough, so let it happen._ He took Cortana's hands in his, leaning down significantly, "Gladly…"

She blushed, shifting her weight to her toes to reach higher. Finally, after Chief's first feelings for her almost nine years ago, they kissed, receiving multiple double-takes from passing soldiers, and even one sliding his friend five dollars. Cortana tasted sweet, with the lingering taste of lunch just at the back. Admittedly not the grandest kiss ever, but for twelve seconds, the couple were as happy as can be.

They stopped, looking into each other's eyes. Chief breathed three words he never thought he'd hear himself say: "…I love you…"

"I love you, too…" Cortana replied softly, embracing the gargantuan soldier. …_Finally…_


	6. Sierra

Cortana, for the first time since she was created, was sleeping. She dreamt, first being on a rock ledge, overlooking the ocean. She jumped from the stone, but did not plummet as gravity would have intended. She simply froze in midair.

The dream shifted, her gravity returning to her as she now landed, standing in a metal tunnel, a current of air doing all in its power to cool the otherwise sweltering environment. The wall to her left fell away, the former top now resting at her feet as the panel revealed an army of Prometheans. She froze, this time in peril, as 5,000 pairs of artificial eyes stared at her. They began to advance, but froze in time as Cortana had at the sea. Curiously, she tiptoed through the armada. Knights in stasis mid-warp, Watchers projecting shields that never rose, and Crawlers caught off the ground as they trotted forth.

Then time resumed, a Knight rematerializing where she'd been a minute before, swiping at the meta-human who no longer occupied that area, before being obliterated by his comrade. None of the soldiers seemed aware that Cortana was no longer in the spot they had seemingly locked on to. Time then decided to reverse, pulling that foolish soldier back together, along with rewinding the path of every Promethean in the vicinity back behind the wall, which rose up, somehow stopping back in front of her.

Cortana had no idea what was happening, and could not guess before the entire scene fizzled out, being replaced with the diner from the simulation nearly three days prior. She looked at herself. She now wore a red sundress and high heels, and her hair was pulled up in a bun. Looking up, she also found that the man was replaced by John, wearing a blue polo, khakis, and dressy shoes.

They sat across from each other, chatting and laughing, before the vision slid them to the park. Cortana looked up, seeing sunlight peel through the generic tree's leaves and branches. They stood, and soon were dancing in the sim-club to swing music.

John pulled her in, and nearly kissed her before time stopped again. She couldn't release herself from the quantum-frozen Master Chief, so she gathered her surroundings. Randomly generated patrons were still, men and women in various steps of the dance she and her giant boyfriend now were stuck in.

Time shot forward, the venue now taking the form of Chief's quarters. She was wearing the pajamas Dr. Halsey supplied her with. She was lying on the bed, with John kissing her neck. She embraced him, about to beg for more when they launched forward in time again. They now were nude, under the sheets, and inexplicably exhausted, though Cortana could guess what happened. The room was quiet, save for her and Dream John's panting.

Then, with no forewarning, the entire scene started to decay, lines of data rotting from the walls, floor, and air itself. She panicked, turning to wake John, who had vanished into thin air. She left the bed and made a dash for the door to the tiny room, but when she got there, it refused to open. With the deterioration of the room drawing nearer and nearer, she closed her eyes tight, waiting for impending doom.

She awoke with a start, sitting up as her pores washed her skin over with sweat. She quickly glanced around her small sleeping space; the walls were intact, not rotting or falling to reveal armies, they were just walls. She sighed, and noted an unnervingly warm, wet spot that now decorated her sheets. The clock said it was 0600 hours, so she decided to get out of bed.

/

At about 0623 hours, Cortana left her quarters, mentally thanking her twice-over creator for the little room and change of clothes. She thought hard about the nightmare she'd just suffered through. _What was that all about? The ocean, the tunnel, the date, and then everything rotted._ She satisfied an itch on her head. _I need to talk with Hals- 'Mom.' Sorry, brain._

Her stomach decided it was time to eat, notifying the cyber human with a growl. _Right after breakfast…_

/

John was attempting to enjoy what the cook had described to him as "toast with jelly," although to him it tasted like a wad of flavored glue on sandpaper, when Cortana seated herself next to him. "You're up early," he said, setting the stale bread down.

"And you're not?" She replied.

"Six o' clock is nothing compared to how early they make Spartans wake up in basic." He began to notice the dark circles under the AI's eyes, "Are you sleeping alright?"

She put her head down, making an audible thud against the table. "First sleep ever and I have a nightmare. I don't even know why."

"You want to talk about it?"

"I was gonna tell Mom about it. That seemed the most correct option."

"You can tell me. If it's embarrassing, I'll understand if you don't want to." He crunched into the rock-hard slab of bread and jam again, fighting through the grotesque breakfast as Cortana relayed the events of her dream in detail, of course omitting the scene of them in bed, as it seemed too profane at this stage of their relationship. "Hm…" he droned.

"It's weird, right? No branch of psychology would be able to define it that I've found."

"It's unlike any dream I've heard about. Maybe it's AI-human-specific?"

"Maybe…" Cortana stood, carrying her untouched food to the nearest waste bin.

"You're not going to eat?"

"Are you kidding? You don't have to taste it to know they use expired bread for Thursday toast."

/

Cortana walked into Halsey's lab, where the professor was on her computer running tests. "Cortana," she said, not looking up from her work.

"Hi, Mom."

"Problems?"

The synthetic rubbed the back of her head, "Something feels off: first, my mind just goes to mush and I forget what I'm going to say. Then, I had a strange dream the other night."

Halsey set her tests on auto, swiveling to face the AI. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"That's exactly what Chief said when I mentioned it to him," she replied, before informing her technical mother of the nightmare from the night prior, not forgetting a single detail of the event: the sea cliff, the tunnel, the army, the breaks in time, the date, and the decay.

"Hm… This could be an issue… Cortana, if you don't mind, I'd like to run a few diagnostics on your neural-net, just as a precaution."

"Go ahead. Let's hope nothing serious is wrong with me…"

/

After a handful of tests, Halsey reviewed the clipboard she had scrawled notes onto. Everything seemed normal, for the most part. All but one thing. "I knew there was something wrong, but this is…"

"What?"

"It would seem something's missing up here," she tapped Cortana's forehead. "Somehow or another, you've managed to lose an entire tenth of your cyber makeup."

"What?!" Cortana exclaimed, more shocked at how calm Halsey was than the news itself. "You're saying that as if I have a sore throat! What do you mean I'm missing a tenth of me?"

"I _mean_ that, somewhere along the way, not all of you made it into Stein's Child." She furrowed her eyebrows, "How long ago did you say this has been happening?"

"Since about yesterday. Why?" Before Halsey could answer, the lights shut off, leaving the pair in complete darkness save for the white glow of the lab's computers.

"I think I know where the rest of you is."

/

Chief activated the flashlight on his suit, heading over to the nearest engineer, who was already working on the lights. "What happened to the lights?"

"Not sure, Chief," the mechanic replied, "they were workin' fine a minute ago. Must'a blew a fuse."

"Get them back on."

"Yessir."

He left the maintenance man to his work, putting on his helmet as he strode back to Halsey's lab. _Dr. Halsey should know what's going on…_

A silhouette flashed across his HUD, sending the same reaction through him when Cortana did the same during their bout with the Prophet of Truth. It spoke in a tiny voice, almost childlike, and greeted him. _"Hi, there. Wh-hat's your na-a-a-ame?"_ This was nearly intimidating; Chief's training never went over anything like this. _"I ho-o-ope you don't-n't mind I turned the lights off, but I really wanted-d-d-d to play Hide-and-Seek."_

"This is too weird…" He tried to ignore the small voice that literally was whispering in his ear, but he almost felt obliged to communicate with it. "People call me 'Master Chief' or 'Sierra One-One-Seven.' What about you?"

The little voice snickered at him, _"'Sierra' i-is a girl's name!"_

_This may be a while…_


	7. Remainder One

Chief was about to lose his mind. This tiny voice, which he'd taken to calling "Sierra," was hyperactive, and simply refused to be quiet. She was currently attempting to tell him a joke, but had forgotten the punch line, _"Um… Oh ye-eah! What did the army say to the navy?"_

But for the life of him, John couldn't refuse talking with it, "I don't know."

_"Why so blue!"_

It took him a second to process that, but when he did he chuckled, "Navy blue. Funny."

Sierra suddenly decided to become curious. _"Hey, Mister Chief?"_

"Yes?"

_"What do-o you do for fun-n?"_

This caused him to stop. He'd never once been asked that particular question before now, so he'd never had an answer prepared. "Why do you ask?"

_"Because yo-u seem really nice. I think you sho-o-uld have some fun."_

"Thanks. I needed that." He continued his search for Halsey.

/

"Let's try farther back," Halsey said, the research bay bathed in the red glow of interior emergency lighting fixtures. "When do you remember encountering the Flood?"

Cortana thought hard, "About… Five years ago, on the first Halo."

"What about Captain Keyes? Do you remember him?"

"Captain Jacob Keyes was found deceased in 2552, onboard the Flood-occupied Truth and Reconciliation."

"And Noble Team?"

Cortana shrugged, "That's where everything ends. I don't remember anything prior to my work on the Pillar of Autumn."

"Hmm… Then that fragment you lost must contain your earliest memories, from when I first constructed you on Reach."

"Will it be able to act on its own?"

"Well, it's an AI fragment, so there's no way of knowing for sure. A fragment may become completely independent of its initial unit, or cease to function entirely. If we want to find out, we'll need to locate it first."

It was about that time John walked in, sparking the biggest shared case of déjà vu in any of their lives. "Halsey," he began.

"Yes, John?"

"I think we've got a little problem."

/

The three of them conversed, sharing their thoughts on what had occurred in the past twenty-one minutes. "So, Cortana's not _all_ in here?" Chief asked, nudging toward the living husk that was Cortana.

"Precisely. I believe the fragment was split from her just before the transfer into her new body." Halsey turned to Cortana, "What were you doing just before using the Stein's Child capsule?"

"Let's see…" she tapped her forehead, as though she could shake the memories loose manually. "I had just left John in his room…" It suddenly donned on her, "The ship diagnostic! I was running tests on the ship and set some of myself aside to do it."

"That must be where Sierra came from," John said.

Cortana looked at him, a confused look on her face, "'Sierra?'"

"That's what I decided to call her."

"Why Sierra, though?"

"Because I introduced myself as Sierra One-One-Seven and she laughed, saying that it was 'a girl's name.'"

"Aw, that's so cute!"

Halsey cleared her throat, "If we could get back to the matter at hand?"

"Right," Chief said, getting serious again. "So, what are we going to do?"

"There's very little we _can_ do. My suggestion is to have Cortana reenter the ship's mainframe and attempt to assimilate the fragment back into her coding."

The emergency lights sputtered out, replaced by the normal luminance of halogen light bulbs. The terminal Cortana's data chip used to occupy flickered to life, projecting what appeared to be Cortana; only smaller. She turned to Chief, greeting him with a smile, "Hi, Mi-ister Chief!"

Cortana chuckled, "'Mister Chief?'"

Halsey observed the little hologram, watching her glitch slightly on the platform but still remain relatively stable. "Are you Sierra?"

"Yup-p," the fragment responded. "Who a-are you?"

"Let's just say: I had a lot to do with you." She turned to Cortana, "Are you ready?"

"Wait," Chief halted her. "Why do this?"

"Because otherwise, I'm not going to be completely me, John," Cortana answered.

"But she hasn't done anyone any harm. I don't think we should get rid of her."

"We won't be getting _rid_ of her. We're just going to reincorporate her into me."

"But what if we make this a good thing?" He argued, "You can't be everywhere at once anymore; she can. If we just keep her under control-"

"But we _can't,_ John," Halsey said. "Keeping an AI fragment under control is akin to stapling the feeling of happiness to the wall. Sierra is, quite frankly, an emotion of Cortana's. Without it, she can't be entirely her."

Chief looked to Cortana, still addressing Halsey. "Then I'll love the rest of her." He turned back to the professor, "Just let me prove I can keep her under control."

"And if you can't?"

"If I can't… then you can send her back."

Halsey gave the offer some thought. "Very well, John. I'll give you to the end of the month. If you can keep her from wiping out any of the ship's other systems in that time, she can stay."

"Thank you, Halsey. You won't regret this." The instant after he said this, Halsey's computer blue-screened, followed by a giggle from Sierra. "Um… Starting now."

"You're lucky I backup all of my files."


End file.
